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The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have worn down the nation's ground
forces, stretching those serving in the Army and Marines and wearing out
their gear at an unprecedented rate. So, it's no surprise that the nation's
ground-pounders would be seeking the most from the ever-cooperative members
of the House Armed Services Committee. For years, that Pentagon-pleasing panel has asked the services to send it a wish list  lawmakers prefer to call it an "unfunded requirements list"  of budget items they desire but which have not been approved by their penny-pinching civilian overseers, i.e. the Defense
Secretary and the President.

Earlier this month, the Army stepped up to the plate and asked for $4
billion more than the $141 billion it is slated to receive in 2009. The
Marines asked for $3 billion more than their proposed ration of $25 billion.
The Navy asked for $5 billion to be added to its bottom line of $124
billion. But all those sums added together don't equal the  hold your
breath, dear taxpayer  $19 billion that the Air Force wants over and above its $144 billion request.

A quick flip through the 11-page list turns up a $13 million "requirement" for dorm furniture  an item that may justify the other services dubbing it the "Chair Force" because so many of its people are behind desks. In response to questions from TIME on the list's contents and cost, the Air Force issued a statement Thursday saying the list contains only its "most critical needs." Lieutenant General Dave Deptula, the Air Force's top intel officer, says his service's needs "are severe and getting worse," and that the list reflects the gap "between where we are and where we need to be."

Highlighting the huge request is a proposal by the Air Force to trump its civilian leaders and buy twice as many F-22 jets as
now planned, while hyping the threats to justify the buy. China and India are, in the Air Force's eyes, the 21st century equivalent of the Soviet Union, requiring billions
in new aircraft that even a hawkish Republican President doesn't think are needed.
More critically, every dollar spent on supersonic aircraft is a dollar that
isn't spent on the kind of troops and materiel needed to wage the two
irregular wars the nation is now fighting, and which many experts predict
will be the kinds of wars fought for the next generation or two.

The military is hardly starving. The Pentagon's proposed 2009
Defense Budget is twice the size of the budget President Bush inherited from
Bill Clinton. Even without the nearly $200 billion for the wars, the $515
billion tab is on par with the defense budgets of World War II. "Today,
free-flowing funding has fundamentally undermined all budget discipline in
the Pentagon," says Gordon Adams, who oversaw military spending from a
senior post in the Clinton White House.

Take the fight over the F-22. The Pentagon has declared it wants to cap
procurement at 183 planes, for $65 billion. But the Air Force wants 380 of
them. "We think that [183] is the wrong number," General Bruce Carlson, the
Air Force's top weapons buyer, told reporters at a Feb. 13 industry
gathering. "We're committed to funding 380," he added. "We're building a
program right now to do that." Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Air
Force Secretary Michael Wynne after reading Carlson's comments in Aerospace
Daily, a trade paper, and told him to remind Carlson who's the boss. (Wynne did,
and issued a statement saying the Air Force "wholeheartedly supports" the
Administration's proposal.)

Days earlier, Carlson said that today's U.S. Air Force "simply cannot
fight and win against the fleet of airplanes that have been developed and
are flying in India, China, and so forth," a claim questioned by many
experts. But his view has been reinforced by the companies employing 25,000
workers in 44 states building the F-22  the prime contractor is aerospace
giant Lockheed Martin  and their allies in Congress. That is what is so
insidious about these lists: once Congress gets a hold of them, they're used
as pile drivers to pound extra billions into the Pentagon budget, generally
by lawmakers seeking to fund jobs in their districts.

In addition to more F-22 fighters, the Air Force's wish list also seeks more F-35 fighters (needed for "the
Required Force"), more C-130 and C-17 cargo planes ("Part of Required
Force"), and more unmanned Global Hawk drones (these would merely "Support
Required Force"). Unmanned aircraft are supposed to be cheaper, but the
price tag on these runs more than $120 million apiece. More than $1
billion is being sought for 11 passenger planes, seven of them Gulfstream Vs favored
by Apple's Steve Jobs and Sir Elton John (no mention of any Required Force
justification here).

Then there's the line item seeking 100,600 handguns (there are 330,000
people in the Air Force) featuring "improved ergonomic design and higher
caliber effectiveness" at $1,157 a pop. The service also wants 210,000 M-4
carbines at $1,747 a clip. For years, the Air Force has complained about the
Army having its own air force. Now, at long last, the Army may be able to
complain about the Air Force having its own army.